Perseus was son of Zeus and Danae, daughter of Acrisios, king of Argos, and Eurydice.
Acrisius heard oracle from Delphi that a child from his daughter was destined to kill him. Acrisius fearing his destiny imprisoned his daughter in a tower. But the god Zeus, appeared in the form of shower of gold, and soon after, Perseus was born.
Having found that Danae had given birth to a son, Acrisius locked both mother and child in a chest and threw them into the sea. Zeus asked his brother, Poseidon, to guide the chest to the island of Seriphus, where the fisherman Dictys found them.
When Perseus grew into a strong young man, Polydectes, who was Dictys' brother, was the king of Seriphus, fell in love with Danae. Polydectes wanted to marry her, but did not want or like her son, Perseus.
Polydectes invited Perseus to a celebration. Polydectes falsely announcing his plan to marry a daughter of Oenomaüs, Hippodameia, and each guest had given a gift to the king. Perseus, who brought no gift, rashly promised to the king that he would give any gift that the king wished.
Polydectes couldn't believe his good fortune of getting rid of the youth, asked for the head of the Gorgon Medusa, knowing that the youth could never possibly return home alive. Perseus readily agreed. Only later, did Perseus realising the depth of his promise, founded that his task was seemingly all but impossible.
There were three Gorgons, and only Medusa was mortal, since she was originally a maiden, whom Poseidon had lain with, in the goddess Athena's shrine. Incurring the goddess' enmity for this sacrilege, Athena turned unfortunate girl into a winged monster with a head full of snakes instead of hair, where a single glance of her hideous face was so deadly, she would turned any creature instantly into stone.
Even if Perseus managed to kill Medusa, the other two Gorgons would fall upon him before he could escape.
But the goddess Athena appeared and came to her mortal half-brother's aid and told him that he needed to fetch some vital equipment, if he was to succeed in his quest. Athena directed him to a cave the Libya, where lived two hags, who shared a single eye and a single tooth. Perseus had to snatch the eye as they passed them, forcing the hags to tell where to find weapons to defeat the Gorgons. The hags told him of the whereabouts of the nymphs.
The nymphs readily aided Perseus in his quest, giving him a magic bag, a pair of winged sandals and the cap of invisibility.
Athena warned him, to never look directly at the Gorgon's face, but rather look at Medusa's reflection on the bronze shield, which she gave him.
Now fully armed, Perseus flew off to find Medusa.
Perseus found their lair, surrounded by people and animal that had turned into stone. Invisible, Perseus watches them through the reflection of the shield and waited until the Gorgons were asleep.
Avoiding the two immortal Gorgons, Perseus crept up to Medusa and severed her head from her body. Snatching the head and placing it in the magic bag, Perseus quickly flew away, as the other two Gorgons awoken, but could not see their attacker, therefore not being able pursue him.
Some of the blood from Medusa's head, leaked out of the bag. A drop of Medusa's blood fell into the sea and Pegasus, the winged horse, was born.
Flying past the city of Joppa, in Syria, Perseus found a beautiful maiden chained to a rock at the beach. She was Andromeda, daughter of the king Cepheus. His vain wife Cassiopeia boasted that she was more beautiful than the Nereids. In anger, the Nereids requested to Poseidon to send a sea monster, called the Kraken, to destroy the city. Only a sacrifice of the king's daughter would spare the town.
Hearing their story from Andromeda's parents, Perseus bargained with the king for the girl's hand in marriage. Perseus fought the Kraken eventually turning it to stone by showing it the head of Medussa.
Cepheus held a banquet to honour the young hero, but Andromeda was promised in marriage to Cepheus' brother, Phineus, who had come to claim her. Perseus told Phineus that he had saved Andromeda's life and that the king had agreed to reward Perseus should he defeat the monster, so he had the strongest claim. Perseus, who made some friends in court, supported Perseus' claim, but they were heavily outnumbered. At this point, Cepheus and Cassiopeia had left the court to avoid confrontation and taking side.
Fighting broke out between two factions over who had the best claim to marry Andromeda. After Perseus had killed many of Phineus' followers, Perseus told his new friends to shield their eyes, when he pulled Medusa's head from his bag, turning his enemies into stone.
Perseus and Andromeda were shortly married after the battle, and then had a son, named Perses.
Theseus and the Minotaur Prince Theseus was the son of King Aegeus of Athens, not too long before the Trojan War (so maybe around 1300 BC). At this time the Minoans, who lived on the island of Crete, had a very strong navy. The Minoan king, King Minos, used to send his navy to attack Greek cities, including Athens. Everyone was afraid of him and his soldiers. King Aegeus had an agreement with King Minos that if Minos would leave Athens alone, Aegeus would send seven Athenian boys and seven Athenian girls to Crete every nine years, to be eaten by a monster that lived on Crete, the Minotaur. They had been doing this for a long time, but of course the boys and girls who had to go be eaten and their moms and dads hated it!
One day it was once again time to send the children to Crete. Everyone was crying. Prince Theseus said that he was going to go with them and kill the Minotaur, to save these children and all the ones who might be sent in the future. His dad, King Aegeus, begged him not to go. Aegeus was afraid that the Minotaur would get Theseus too! But Theseus said he was, too, going to go, and he got on the boat. The boat had a black sail, to show how sad everyone was. King Aegeus made Theseus promise to change to a white sail if he lived to come home, to announce that he had won, and Theseus promised.
When they got to Crete, King Minos and his daughter Princess Ariadne (arr-ee-AD-nee) came out of their palace to see Theseus and the other Athenian children. King Minos just said to throw them in to the Minotaur the next day, but Ariadne fell in love with Theseus (yes, just like that!) and she wanted to help him.
So late that night Ariadne gave Theseus a sword and a ball of string. She told him to tie the string to the door of the Labyrinth where the Minotaur lived (a big maze) and unroll it behind him as he went so he could find his way back out, and to use the sword to kill the Minotaur. Theseus thanked Ariadne very much and promised to marry her if he escaped without being eaten by the Minotaur.
The next morning all the Athenians went into the Labyrinth. The others were afraid, but Prince Theseus tied the string to the door and went to find the Minotaur. Finally he did find the Minotaur and there was a big fight, but then Theseus killed the Minotaur with his sword and followed the string back to the door. The other Athenians were very happy to see him and to hear that he had killed the Minotaur!
Princess Ariadne opened the door and let them out, and they all ran away to their ship and sailed away: Theseus, Ariadne, and all the other Athenians.
But when Theseus and Ariadne got to the island of Delos, halfway home from Crete, they stopped to rest. Ariadne fell asleep, and Theseus left her there on the island and sailed away to Athens without her. Different Greek stories give different reasons why he did this: maybe he just didn't like her very much, or maybe he thought the Athenians wouldn't like her because she was Cretan. Or maybe he was afraid King Minos would be angry. Some stories say it was because Dionysos fell in love with her. But all the stories agree that he left her there on the island.
When Theseus got as far as Sounion, he was close enough for the ship to be seen from Athens. But he had forgotten to change the sail from black to white! His father, King Aegeus, was looking out for Theseus' ship. When he saw the black sail he thought Theseus was dead, and he was so sad that he jumped off the cliff and killed himself.
When Theseus reached Athens, he was very sorry to hear that his father was dead, and it was his own fault. But then he became king, and he was a very good king who ruled for a long time.
Odyesseus Odysseus was the son of Laertes and Anticleia. Odysseus had married Penelope, a daughter of Icarius and the cousin of Helen of Sparta. Penelope bore Odysseus a son, who they named Telemachus.
Odysseus was the king of the island of Ithaca. With twelve ships, he sailed to and fought in Troy for ten years. He was one of the Greek best warriors, who masterminded the fall of Troy with the stratagem of the Wooden Horse.
Odysseus suffered another ten years of wandering before the gods allowed him to set foot on his small, but beloved island of Ithaca. He had many adventures along the way. This is an account of one of them.
Landing his ships in Sicily, Odysseus and twelve of his men went in search of supplies. They come across cave that was obviously inhabited by a giant. Odysseus insisted on meeting the inhabitant in the hope of exchanging gifts. Polyphemus, a Cyclops and son of Poseidon, drove his giant herd of sheep into the cave and blocked the huge cave with a huge boulder. Finding intruders in the cave, he immediately killed and ate two of Odysseus' men. Knowing he would never be able to leave the cave if they kill the Cyclops (since they were not strong enough to move the boulder at the cave's entrance), Odysseus devised a plan. He and his men sharpened a huge log of wood into a stake, during Polyphemus' absence the next day.
Two more of his men were killed upon Polyphemus' return. Odysseus gave the Cyclops a little wine. Enjoying the wine, Polyphemus promised him some gift in return for some more wine. Asking for Odysseus' name, the hero reply that it was Outis (which means "Nobody" in Greek). Polyphemus promised to eat "Nobody" last.
Drunk, the Cyclops went wearily to bed. Odysseus and his men hardened the huge stake point in the fire pit, before driving the stake into Polyphemus' single eye, blinding the Cyclops. His cry caused the neighbouring Cyclopes to gather outside his cave, asking him what was wrong. Polyphemus replied was that "Nobody is killing me". The other Cyclopes returned to their own caves.
When Polyphemus had to let his herds to graze in the pasture the following day, Odysseus had tied each of his men to the bellies of three sheep, while he himself hanged on to the belly of huge ram.
Freed from the clutch of the Cyclops, Odysseus returned to the ships with his men and the giant herds of sheep.
As they sailed away Odysseus couldn't suppressed his rage over the death of his companions. He shouted to Polyphemus, revealing his identity to the Cyclops that he, Odysseus has put out his eye. Polyphemus heard from a prophecy that he would lose his eye to a hero; Polyphemus thought that hero would be larger in size.
Blinded, unable to kill Odysseus, Polyphemus prayed to his father Poseidon for vengeance upon Odysseus. Therefore, he incurred Poseidon' enmity, who made him wander the sea for ten years, before he was allowed return to Ithaca.
Jason and the Argonauts The Greek myth of Jason and the Golden Fleece is one of the oldest myths of a hero's quest. It is a classic story of betrayal and vengeance and like many Greek myths has a tragic ending. It begins when Jason's Uncle Pelias kills Jason's father, the Greek King of Iolkos, and takes his throne. Jason's mother brings him to Cheiron, a centaur (half man, half horse) who hides him away and raises him on the Mountain of Pelion.
When Jason turns 20, he journeys to see Pelias to reclaim his throne. At a nearby river, Hera the Queen of the Gods approaches him disguised as an old woman. While carrying her across the river he loses a sandal and arrives at court wearing only one. Pelias is nervous when he sees Jason missing a sandal, for an oracle has prophesied that a man wearing only one sandal shall usurp his throne.
Jason demands the return of his rightful throne. Pelias replies that Jason should first accomplish a difficult task to prove his worth. The task is for Jason to retrieve the Golden Fleece, kept beyond the edge of the known world in a land called Colchis (modern-day Georgia in Southwest Asia). The story of the fleece is an interesting tale in itself. Zeus, the King of the Gods, had given a golden ram to Jason's ancestor Phrixus. Phrixus later flew on the golden ram from Greece to Colchis, whose king was Aietes, the son of Helios the Sun God. Aietes sacrificed the ram and hung the fleece in a sacred grove guarded by a dragon, as an oracle had foretold that Aietes would lose his kingdom if he lost the fleece.
Determined to reclaim his throne, Jason agrees to retrieve the Golden Fleece. Jason assembles a team of great heroes for his crew and they sail aboard the Argo. The first stop of the Argonauts is the Greek Isle of Lemnos, populated only by women. Unknown to Jason and his crew, the women have murdered their husbands. The Argonauts fare much better though; in fact the women use the occasion as an opportunity to repopulate the island.
After many more adventures, the Argo passes Constantinople, heading for the Straits of Bosphorus. The Straits of Bosphorus are a narrow passageway of water between the Sea of Marmara, the Aegean Sea and the Black Sea. To the ancient Greeks, this was the edge of the known world. The Straits are extremely dangerous due to the currents created by the flow of water from the Black Sea. The ancient Greeks believed that clashing rocks guarded the straits and that the rocks would close together and smash any ship sailing through. Jason had been told by a blind prophet he assisted how to fool the rocks. He was to send a bird ahead of him. The rocks would crash in on it and then reopen, at which point he could successfully sail through.
When Jason finally arrives in Colchis he asks King Aietes to return the golden fleece to him as it belonged to his ancestor. Reluctant, the king suggests yet another series of challenges to Jason. He must yoke fire-breathing bulls, plough and sow a field with dragons' teeth and then overcome the warriors who will rise from the furrows. Aietes is confident the tasks are impossible but unbeknownst to the king, his daughter Medea has taken a liking to Jason. She offers to assist Jason if he will marry her. He agrees. Medea is a powerful sorceress and Jason is successful.
Jason and Medea return to Greece where Jason claims his father's throne, but their success is short-lived. Uncomfortable with Medea's magic, the locals drive Medea and Jason out of Iolkos. They go into exile in Corinth where the king offers Jason his daughter in marriage. He agrees and so violates his vow to the gods to be true only to Medea. Furious, Medea kills the woman, kills Medea and Jason's children and then ascends to Mount Olympus where she eventually marries Achilles. Jason goes back to Iolkos where his boat the Argo is on display. One day, while he sits next to the boat weeping, the decaying beam of his ship the Argo falls off and hits him on the head, killing him outright.
Perseus
Perseus was son of Zeus and Danae, daughter of Acrisios, king of Argos, and Eurydice.
Acrisius heard oracle from Delphi that a child from his daughter was destined to kill him. Acrisius fearing his destiny imprisoned his daughter in a tower. But the god Zeus, appeared in the form of shower of gold, and soon after, Perseus was born.
Having found that Danae had given birth to a son, Acrisius locked both mother and child in a chest and threw them into the sea. Zeus asked his brother, Poseidon, to guide the chest to the island of Seriphus, where the fisherman Dictys found them.
When Perseus grew into a strong young man, Polydectes, who was Dictys' brother, was the king of Seriphus, fell in love with Danae. Polydectes wanted to marry her, but did not want or like her son, Perseus.
Polydectes invited Perseus to a celebration. Polydectes falsely announcing his plan to marry a daughter of Oenomaüs, Hippodameia, and each guest had given a gift to the king. Perseus, who brought no gift, rashly promised to the king that he would give any gift that the king wished.
Polydectes couldn't believe his good fortune of getting rid of the youth, asked for the head of the Gorgon Medusa, knowing that the youth could never possibly return home alive. Perseus readily agreed. Only later, did Perseus realising the depth of his promise, founded that his task was seemingly all but impossible.
There were three Gorgons, and only Medusa was mortal, since she was originally a maiden, whom Poseidon had lain with, in the goddess Athena's shrine. Incurring the goddess' enmity for this sacrilege, Athena turned unfortunate girl into a winged monster with a head full of snakes instead of hair, where a single glance of her hideous face was so deadly, she would turned any creature instantly into stone.
Even if Perseus managed to kill Medusa, the other two Gorgons would fall upon him before he could escape.
But the goddess Athena appeared and came to her mortal half-brother's aid and told him that he needed to fetch some vital equipment, if he was to succeed in his quest. Athena directed him to a cave the Libya, where lived two hags, who shared a single eye and a single tooth. Perseus had to snatch the eye as they passed them, forcing the hags to tell where to find weapons to defeat the Gorgons. The hags told him of the whereabouts of the nymphs.
The nymphs readily aided Perseus in his quest, giving him a magic bag, a pair of winged sandals and the cap of invisibility.
Athena warned him, to never look directly at the Gorgon's face, but rather look at Medusa's reflection on the bronze shield, which she gave him.
Now fully armed, Perseus flew off to find Medusa.
Perseus found their lair, surrounded by people and animal that had turned into stone. Invisible, Perseus watches them through the reflection of the shield and waited until the Gorgons were asleep.
Avoiding the two immortal Gorgons, Perseus crept up to Medusa and severed her head from her body. Snatching the head and placing it in the magic bag, Perseus quickly flew away, as the other two Gorgons awoken, but could not see their attacker, therefore not being able pursue him.
Some of the blood from Medusa's head, leaked out of the bag. A drop of Medusa's blood fell into the sea and Pegasus, the winged horse, was born.
Flying past the city of Joppa, in Syria, Perseus found a beautiful maiden chained to a rock at the beach. She was Andromeda, daughter of the king Cepheus. His vain wife Cassiopeia boasted that she was more beautiful than the Nereids. In anger, the Nereids requested to Poseidon to send a sea monster, called the Kraken, to destroy the city. Only a sacrifice of the king's daughter would spare the town.
Hearing their story from Andromeda's parents, Perseus bargained with the king for the girl's hand in marriage. Perseus fought the Kraken eventually turning it to stone by showing it the head of Medussa.
Cepheus held a banquet to honour the young hero, but Andromeda was promised in marriage to Cepheus' brother, Phineus, who had come to claim her. Perseus told Phineus that he had saved Andromeda's life and that the king had agreed to reward Perseus should he defeat the monster, so he had the strongest claim. Perseus, who made some friends in court, supported Perseus' claim, but they were heavily outnumbered. At this point, Cepheus and Cassiopeia had left the court to avoid confrontation and taking side.
Fighting broke out between two factions over who had the best claim to marry Andromeda. After Perseus had killed many of Phineus' followers, Perseus told his new friends to shield their eyes, when he pulled Medusa's head from his bag, turning his enemies into stone.
Perseus and Andromeda were shortly married after the battle, and then had a son, named Perses.
Theseus and the Minotaur
Prince Theseus was the son of King Aegeus of Athens, not too long before the Trojan War (so maybe around 1300 BC). At this time the Minoans, who lived on the island of Crete, had a very strong navy. The Minoan king, King Minos, used to send his navy to attack Greek cities, including Athens. Everyone was afraid of him and his soldiers. King Aegeus had an agreement with King Minos that if Minos would leave Athens alone, Aegeus would send seven Athenian boys and seven Athenian girls to Crete every nine years, to be eaten by a monster that lived on Crete, the Minotaur. They had been doing this for a long time, but of course the boys and girls who had to go be eaten and their moms and dads hated it!
One day it was once again time to send the children to Crete. Everyone was crying. Prince Theseus said that he was going to go with them and kill the Minotaur, to save these children and all the ones who might be sent in the future. His dad, King Aegeus, begged him not to go. Aegeus was afraid that the Minotaur would get Theseus too! But Theseus said he was, too, going to go, and he got on the boat. The boat had a black sail, to show how sad everyone was. King Aegeus made Theseus promise to change to a white sail if he lived to come home, to announce that he had won, and Theseus promised.
When they got to Crete, King Minos and his daughter Princess Ariadne (arr-ee-AD-nee) came out of their palace to see Theseus and the other Athenian children. King Minos just said to throw them in to the Minotaur the next day, but Ariadne fell in love with Theseus (yes, just like that!) and she wanted to help him.
So late that night Ariadne gave Theseus a sword and a ball of string. She told him to tie the string to the door of the Labyrinth where the Minotaur lived (a big maze) and unroll it behind him as he went so he could find his way back out, and to use the sword to kill the Minotaur. Theseus thanked Ariadne very much and promised to marry her if he escaped without being eaten by the Minotaur.
The next morning all the Athenians went into the Labyrinth. The others were afraid, but Prince Theseus tied the string to the door and went to find the Minotaur. Finally he did find the Minotaur and there was a big fight, but then Theseus killed the Minotaur with his sword and followed the string back to the door. The other Athenians were very happy to see him and to hear that he had killed the Minotaur!
Princess Ariadne opened the door and let them out, and they all ran away to their ship and sailed away: Theseus, Ariadne, and all the other Athenians.
But when Theseus and Ariadne got to the island of Delos, halfway home from Crete, they stopped to rest. Ariadne fell asleep, and Theseus left her there on the island and sailed away to Athens without her. Different Greek stories give different reasons why he did this: maybe he just didn't like her very much, or maybe he thought the Athenians wouldn't like her because she was Cretan. Or maybe he was afraid King Minos would be angry. Some stories say it was because Dionysos fell in love with her. But all the stories agree that he left her there on the island.
When Theseus got as far as Sounion, he was close enough for the ship to be seen from Athens. But he had forgotten to change the sail from black to white! His father, King Aegeus, was looking out for Theseus' ship. When he saw the black sail he thought Theseus was dead, and he was so sad that he jumped off the cliff and killed himself.
When Theseus reached Athens, he was very sorry to hear that his father was dead, and it was his own fault. But then he became king, and he was a very good king who ruled for a long time.
Odyesseus
Odysseus was the king of the island of Ithaca. With twelve ships, he sailed to and fought in Troy for ten years. He was one of the Greek best warriors, who masterminded the fall of Troy with the stratagem of the Wooden Horse.
Odysseus suffered another ten years of wandering before the gods allowed him to set foot on his small, but beloved island of Ithaca. He had many adventures along the way. This is an account of one of them.
Landing his ships in Sicily, Odysseus and twelve of his men went in search of supplies. They come across cave that was obviously inhabited by a giant. Odysseus insisted on meeting the inhabitant in the hope of exchanging gifts. Polyphemus, a Cyclops and son of Poseidon, drove his giant herd of sheep into the cave and blocked the huge cave with a huge boulder. Finding intruders in the cave, he immediately killed and ate two of Odysseus' men. Knowing he would never be able to leave the cave if they kill the Cyclops (since they were not strong enough to move the boulder at the cave's entrance), Odysseus devised a plan. He and his men sharpened a huge log of wood into a stake, during Polyphemus' absence the next day.
Two more of his men were killed upon Polyphemus' return. Odysseus gave the Cyclops a little wine. Enjoying the wine, Polyphemus promised him some gift in return for some more wine. Asking for Odysseus' name, the hero reply that it was Outis (which means "Nobody" in Greek). Polyphemus promised to eat "Nobody" last.
Drunk, the Cyclops went wearily to bed. Odysseus and his men hardened the huge stake point in the fire pit, before driving the stake into Polyphemus' single eye, blinding the Cyclops. His cry caused the neighbouring Cyclopes to gather outside his cave, asking him what was wrong. Polyphemus replied was that "Nobody is killing me". The other Cyclopes returned to their own caves.
When Polyphemus had to let his herds to graze in the pasture the following day, Odysseus had tied each of his men to the bellies of three sheep, while he himself hanged on to the belly of huge ram.
Freed from the clutch of the Cyclops, Odysseus returned to the ships with his men and the giant herds of sheep.
As they sailed away Odysseus couldn't suppressed his rage over the death of his companions. He shouted to Polyphemus, revealing his identity to the Cyclops that he, Odysseus has put out his eye. Polyphemus heard from a prophecy that he would lose his eye to a hero; Polyphemus thought that hero would be larger in size.
Blinded, unable to kill Odysseus, Polyphemus prayed to his father Poseidon for vengeance upon Odysseus. Therefore, he incurred Poseidon' enmity, who made him wander the sea for ten years, before he was allowed return to Ithaca.
Jason and the Argonauts
The Greek myth of Jason and the Golden Fleece is one of the oldest myths of a hero's quest. It is a classic story of betrayal and vengeance and like many Greek myths has a tragic ending. It begins when Jason's Uncle Pelias kills Jason's father, the Greek King of Iolkos, and takes his throne. Jason's mother brings him to Cheiron, a centaur (half man, half horse) who hides him away and raises him on the Mountain of Pelion.
When Jason turns 20, he journeys to see Pelias to reclaim his throne. At a nearby river, Hera the Queen of the Gods approaches him disguised as an old woman. While carrying her across the river he loses a sandal and arrives at court wearing only one. Pelias is nervous when he sees Jason missing a sandal, for an oracle has prophesied that a man wearing only one sandal shall usurp his throne.
Jason demands the return of his rightful throne. Pelias replies that Jason should first accomplish a difficult task to prove his worth. The task is for Jason to retrieve the Golden Fleece, kept beyond the edge of the known world in a land called Colchis (modern-day Georgia in Southwest Asia). The story of the fleece is an interesting tale in itself. Zeus, the King of the Gods, had given a golden ram to Jason's ancestor Phrixus. Phrixus later flew on the golden ram from Greece to Colchis, whose king was Aietes, the son of Helios the Sun God. Aietes sacrificed the ram and hung the fleece in a sacred grove guarded by a dragon, as an oracle had foretold that Aietes would lose his kingdom if he lost the fleece.
Determined to reclaim his throne, Jason agrees to retrieve the Golden Fleece. Jason assembles a team of great heroes for his crew and they sail aboard the Argo. The first stop of the Argonauts is the Greek Isle of Lemnos, populated only by women. Unknown to Jason and his crew, the women have murdered their husbands. The Argonauts fare much better though; in fact the women use the occasion as an opportunity to repopulate the island.
After many more adventures, the Argo passes Constantinople, heading for the Straits of Bosphorus. The Straits of Bosphorus are a narrow passageway of water between the Sea of Marmara, the Aegean Sea and the Black Sea. To the ancient Greeks, this was the edge of the known world. The Straits are extremely dangerous due to the currents created by the flow of water from the Black Sea. The ancient Greeks believed that clashing rocks guarded the straits and that the rocks would close together and smash any ship sailing through. Jason had been told by a blind prophet he assisted how to fool the rocks. He was to send a bird ahead of him. The rocks would crash in on it and then reopen, at which point he could successfully sail through.
When Jason finally arrives in Colchis he asks King Aietes to return the golden fleece to him as it belonged to his ancestor. Reluctant, the king suggests yet another series of challenges to Jason. He must yoke fire-breathing bulls, plough and sow a field with dragons' teeth and then overcome the warriors who will rise from the furrows. Aietes is confident the tasks are impossible but unbeknownst to the king, his daughter Medea has taken a liking to Jason. She offers to assist Jason if he will marry her. He agrees. Medea is a powerful sorceress and Jason is successful.
Jason and Medea return to Greece where Jason claims his father's throne, but their success is short-lived. Uncomfortable with Medea's magic, the locals drive Medea and Jason out of Iolkos. They go into exile in Corinth where the king offers Jason his daughter in marriage. He agrees and so violates his vow to the gods to be true only to Medea. Furious, Medea kills the woman, kills Medea and Jason's children and then ascends to Mount Olympus where she eventually marries Achilles. Jason goes back to Iolkos where his boat the Argo is on display. One day, while he sits next to the boat weeping, the decaying beam of his ship the Argo falls off and hits him on the head, killing him outright.